Aside from extending some of their own players, it’s been a very quiet offseason so far for the Montreal Canadiens.
Whether it was Matthew Knies, Robert Thomas, or Kirill Marchenko, fans were expecting a splash from GM Kent Hughes after their run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Nothing of that nature has come to fruition just yet; however, Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette is not willing to rule it out and still believes something will happen over the next few months.
“There’s no deadline on when he could make this trade and there’s no rush to do it. So it could happen tomorrow, it could happen in October, it could happen in November. I don’t think that if they don’t do it this summer, that doesn’t mean it’s not gonna happen. Injuries can happen. The Michael Hage situation. So there’s a lot of things that can still happen between now and the start of the season. Again, it could happen at any time. But I mean, I don’t see us going into December or something like that without a trade being made,”
The Canadiens currently have $9.78 million in cap space, with RFAs Zack Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj still unsigned. Cowan mentioned that the latter is more likely to be a trade candidate than re-signed by Montreal.
Canadiens fans will probably roll their eyes as they continue to wait for Hughes and company to make a meaningful addition to the roster, and understandably so.
The likes of Knies and Thomas being options appears to have come and gone; Marchenko, however, remains a legitimate possibility and a prime target for Montreal.
Sportsnet’s Eric Engels recently pointed to September 16 — the final day to sign an eight-year extension — as a potential deadline for the Blue Jackets to trade Marchenko in order to maximize a return. As a result it feels like he is the name to keep the closest eye on over the next month and a half for the Canadiens.
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